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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24203593">The Pond</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassglassglassmadeofclass/pseuds/glassglassglassmadeofclass'>glassglassglassmadeofclass</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>gg rp fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A Nephrite, An Amber (Gem Galaxies), Set in an AU, Short, Written for a Class, based off a roleplay, earth doesnt exist lmao, gem galaxies, mentions of a past incident, mentions of shattering, the organic planet isnt earth, they stand in a pond and talk and amber gets a seashell. that is all</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:15:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,082</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24203593</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassglassglassmadeofclass/pseuds/glassglassglassmadeofclass</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Alpha Kindergarten, named after the luxurious leader who’d once had dominion over the territory, had long sat desolate and abandoned. No more was the locale bustling with the jovial laughter and military marches of newborn, freshly-emerged Quartzes-- the resources had gone dry. The Gem Empire had used it for everything it had, everything it could give, and then left it to be barren and empty for the rest of time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>gg rp fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Pond</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Nala belongs to my friend Soy. The Alpha Kindergarten, Ambers, and Gem Galaxies all belong to Firelexy and Gem Galaxies.<br/>the ending is abrupt because i got TIRED and also there was a crying scene in the original roleplay but i didnt feel like writing Angst today</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The Alpha Kindergarten, named after the luxurious leader who’d once had dominion over the territory, had long sat desolate and abandoned. No more was the locale bustling with the jovial laughter and military marches of newborn, freshly-emerged Quartzes-- the resources had gone dry. The Gem Empire had used it for everything it had, everything it could give, and then left it to be barren and empty for the rest of time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That wasn’t to say that, despite the area being specifically marked as abandoned, nobody came there. It was dangerous, to be entirely sure-- archaic injectors sat stabbed into crumbling, infertile walls, ready to topple if anyone disturbed the, too much, and yet people still came. Whether to hide from jurisdiction or capture, or just wanting to spend their brief, rare break periods alone and intermixed with the quiet that the Kindergarten provided. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hell, some even lived there permanently. One of which being Nala-- a Nephrite, made to be a pilot and transporter, and yet due to the circumstances of her bizarre making, had never found a reason to pursue that purpose, living off the grid. One could typically find her in a special, small little “pond” to the east of the warp pad, overlooked by an old injector, filled with stagnant, dripping, leftover water from a sloppy terraform job years past. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And go to find her one did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Armada warped into the kindergarten with a flash, the ever-lingering ache of exhaustion, both mental and physical, panging through every limb of her form. It’d not been a pleasant week, to say the absolute least of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>shattering incident,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and, as expected, the little Amber had been taking the absolute brunt of the stress that comes from things such as that. Weak, half-wobbling legs stumbled forward through the purple, lifeless soil of the area, hands idly trying-- and failing-- to rub the haze of sleep out of her half-lidded, tired eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Nephrite was where she almost always was-- the pond, staring out at the horizon (or maybe just at the water itself) with her hands neatly folded at her lap. Whether she heard the Amber approaching or not was entirely secretive to just her, as she made no indication of turning or even paying attention, though Armada knew Nala did, naturally, hear everything going on around her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waters, having long sat still around Nala’s ankles from how long she’d been standing there, found themselves disrupted and unstagnated when the smaller gem walked closer, coming to a pause beside the taller woman. It was always Armada who spoke first, usually, and this time was no different.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Nala.” Her voice held the roughness and drawl that one should expect from someone who was thoroughly and completely exhausted, moreso than she’d ever been before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Nephrite finally turned, waving an arm in a slow greeting. “Hi.” It was a simple, short word, the most someone like Armada could ever expect out of a greeting from Nala. “How’ve you been?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Though Nala wasn’t partial to emotions, having only come upon the full breadth and spectrum of them quite recently, she still felt a small amount of concern for the little orange gem-- given how Nala’s aid during the shattering incident was next to nothing, having stood there frozen in some raw fear for most of the duration of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been...fine.” Armada lied, fiddling with her fingers as she was known to do when nervous. “Just been tired.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Tired?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Yeah. Tired. I know gems aren’t really supposed to </span>
  <em>
    <span>be</span>
  </em>
  <span> tired, but ever since what….happened, I have been.” She shrugged. “I take naps and stuff, but it doesn’t really help-- I’m still tired. All the time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nala paused, casting a glance over-- before speaking again. “I have something for you.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“You do? What is it?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The Nephrite turned, retrieving something from her gem-- small, conical, beige in color. It was a seashell-- pale and twisted, as they often were. “I went to an organic planet recently, when I was getting Ivy the inchworm--”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Awwh-- you-- you followed my advice for what to get her??”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Nala shrugged, and if she still had an eye, she’d close it. “Well-- yes. Besides the point.” The Nephrite leaned over, placing it down in the other girl’s much smaller hands. “There’s something cool about it, you know.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“If you press it to your ear,” She explained, dragging Armada’s arm up so the shell was held against her head, “You can hear the ocean, they say. I thought it might help you calm down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Amber listened closely, and after a few moments, her eyes practically lit up in excitement. “You-- you </span>
  <em>
    <span>can</span>
  </em>
  <span> hear it!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Nephrite gave a small smile, before turning back to her regular position, her companion occupying herself with listening for the time being. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So-- Nala. Tell me more about this organic planet you went to.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Well, it was very green,” She started, folding her hands neatly once more. “Very, very green. I liked it.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Sounds...resourceful!” The Amber chimed, inching closer to the other gem with a quick sidestep. “Is it on any starmaps of the empire? Maybe they’re thinking of making it into a colony or something.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Well-- I don’t know.” Nala admitted, glancing over again. “I just went to whichever planet caught my eye first.” She chuckled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds fun.” The Amber rubbed her eyes once more. “You should...take me some time.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Could we even do that?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“I could say I’m using a ship for a mission and we could just-- go one day.” She suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Really?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Armada laughed. “Things are a lot easier when you’re a high rank, Nala.” </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>And then she just….rubbed her eye again, leaning back for a yawn, which wasn’t missed by her companion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure you’re fine?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Like I said, ever since what happened, I’ve just been...tired.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Maybe it’s your gem?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The Amber cast a glance down, at the gemstone embedded in her stomach. It looked fine, except for the seams, betraying healed old cracks. “...it looks...okay.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“You should talk to Doctor.” Nala suggested, looking over at the other gem.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“...yeah, fine, I guess I should, huh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Nephrite nodded, tilting her head to the side. “She did fix you, after all.”</span>
  <span></span><br/>

  <span>Armada stood,  brushing herself off finally, sighing. “I’m gonna...head back to the solar station, for some rest. Thank you for the shell, Nala.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Nala nodded, watching as Armada turned on her heel and left, shell in hand.</span>
</p><p> </p>
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